Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON LOVE; PART XXIV
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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“But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed . Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:23-29).
While we intended to discuss the verses above from the Apostle Paul to the Galatians in yesterday’s post, we got stuck on the right understanding of the word faith as it is used here. We must see in this word so much more that we commonly give it credit for and the ideas of faith must be seen as we have discussed as a KNOWING which is the faith and a believing which is total reliance upon the KNOWING. There are of course degrees of this and the ultimate is painted for us in such simple terms by the Master that they rather elude us; Jesus tells us that we must have “have faith as a grain of mustard seed” (Matthew 17:20) to accomplish what we should consider the ultimate ‘miracle’ of moving the mountain. However, we must at the same time realize that this KNOWING, as with most ALL of Life, comes to us by degree and the believing, the reliance upon that KNOWING, does as well.
We must remember that Paul is writing to the disciple and to the aspirant and is giving instructions on the finer points of their endeavors; he is not intentionally writing to a general audience of hearers but to those that he expects are doers. In our modern times we take these words as they are for ALL and while they are, there is yet the basic premise their fulfillment is in being an aspirant to discipleship who must at least KNOW and be striving toward discipleship. This is the force behind the words of the Apostle James who tells us to “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22) which show us that to not keep the Master’s words is but deception from the perspective of the would be disciple. There is a grave dysfunctional understanding of these words faith and believing on or believing in and we must accord them both with the reality of keeping His words which is also the criteria for discipleship and for being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God.
Looking then at our verses at the top we can see that this sense of faith, of KNOWING, came to these people to whom the apostle is writing. The message of the first verse is that up to this time they were adhering to the law as this was the accepted way of spiritual accomplishment. One can assume from the tenor of the text that these men were religious according to the law and they kept the precepts and we can also assume that these particular men were keeping the law for GREATER reason that merely because it was the law. Can we see here perhaps the separation between these men and the Pharisee type that the Master derides in the gospels? These men kept the law because it was in them to do so while the Pharisee to whom the Master spoke kept the law because it was his job to do so. Paul tells us then that for the former group the idea of faith is revealed and here is the same dynamic that each of us must find, the revelation of the reality of the Christ Within from whence this sense of faith comes. Before Christ this man did not KNOW of this reality of faith although it was likely working in him already although he may have thought it to be more a sense of the law. Paul goes on to explain to these men that it was the law and knowledge of the law that taught them to be observant and which ‘awakened‘ the sense of faith in them which comes, as we said, from the Christ Within. Continuing we find that the Love and the Power of the Christ Within, the Soul, works to focus the heart of the man on the source of the Love and the Power and the Soul Light begins to work through the form and the personality Life.
This is much the same as we should view our lives today; we are brought up in the law, the common law, the Ten Commandments, cultural norms, etc. and we decide as we go along in Life what we will follow and what we will not; we become, as did the men in Jesus’ day, under the law. From the perspective of the man in form this ‘normal’ behavior becomes his lot and this by choice and he does not and many never see the relative understanding necessary to go beyond the law. This understanding is what we call righteousness, it is the man in form doing or not doing a thing for righteousness sake and this supersedes the selfish motive of doing what may be profitable or not doing that which may be unprofitable; this is not meant in monetary terms alone. It is in the choosing of right or wrong on a case by case basis that defines the man under the law and it is the habitual doing right that would define the man who is Truly righteous. This is echoed by the Master in His words about the Pharisees who were making appearances of righteousness but who, as the Master shows us, were doing all things because of their position and through their positions; they were seeking advantage which is a thing of the carnal self and not a thing of God. For the people then, speaking of the Pharisees and their apparent righteousness, the Master says “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). Not wanting to paint all Pharisees with the same brush, we should note that there were some among them who were righteous and in this we can see a dual nature in the Master’s words as those that may have been righteous, and we do read of some in the gospels, were not able to stand in opposition to those who were less so, thereby leaving the whole of the thought of the Pharisees subject to the same words of the Master.
So we as men who choose daily and on a case by case basis must be seen as under the law and those who consistently do right for no benefit or reward can be seen as righteous and we must ever understand that from the perpective of the disciple and the aspirant, this must include ALL that can be considered as one’s focus on the things of the world which we can translate into the idea of focus upon the things that benefit the carnal self. The Apostle James puts this in perspective for us as regards the Ten Commandments but we should see here the broader picture as well; he tells us: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law” (James 2:10-11). Understanding all this we should see that to be in faith as this is painted here is to KNOW righteousness as it is revealed to us by the Soul, the consciousness in form or, as the Master tells us, the heart. It is at this point of revelation that the law becomes as it were meaningless as there is naught that the man would or could do to break it when his sole focus in upon the things of God and not on the things of the world or, be striving to do so.
We must see that there is no automation here and no point at which we can say we are righteous until ALL is complete and we have attained the mantle of discipleship; until this point we are aspirants and we are striving and this is our duty to perform if we have in our hearts that desire to be His disciple. The Master tells us of the difficulty in attaining this place and we have discussed this several times but is serves us well to repeat here His words that say: “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in , and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24). We should ever understand that it is NEVER too late to come to this realization in any Lifetime and the amount of ‘evil’ that a man may have done is meaningless at this point save for the fact of his own engendered karmic responsibilities. This is the reality of the Parable of the Prodigal Son and this is where the Christ and the Christ Within can boldly say of his own Life in form that he “was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:32). And, when we reach this place of realization, we will have that same joy for every one of our brothers, regardless of who or what they are or have been, who have come to join us in this realization of faith which is found in our KNOWING the Light of our own Souls as we do as the Master tells us saying: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
In these next verses there is a profound difference in the words of the apostle as we see them and the doctrines of the churches. The doctrines here paint for us that faith which is akin to what Vincent tells us that believing on or believing in: is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but this must be painted in the same way as believing. Faith and believing are forever entwined and work with and for and through each other and to have this faith IS to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life4. This is a far cry from the out of context proclamations of faith as expressed by many who then believe that they are ‘saved’, accounted worthy and even disciples without ever taking care to do as Vincent tells us here which is simply stated as keeping His words. So then faith in Christ Jesus IS keeping His words just as believing on Him IS keeping His words and it is by this action in Life that one comes to the realization of being a Son of God consciously functioning here on the Earth.
We will cover the next verses in more detail in the next essay but here we should relate them to the final stanza of the Affirmation of the Disciple which appears below. Let’s read the end here: “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus“. Reading next the last stanza below:
|
Aspect of God |
Potency |
Expressed as Fire |
Aspect of Man |
|
Father |
Will or Power |
Electric Fire |
Spirit or Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Solar Fire |
Soul or Christ Within |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Fire by Friction |
Life Within the Form |
I am a point of light within a greater Light. I am a strand of loving energy within the stream of Love divine. I am a point of sacrificial Fire, focused within the fiery Will of God. And thus I stand I am a way by which men may achieve. I am a source of strength, enabling them to stand. I am a beam of light, shining upon their way. And thus I stand. And standing thus, revolve And tread this way the ways of men, And know the ways of God. And thus I stand.
Forgetting for now the relevance of the baptism, we focus upon the idea of having put on Christ which should be seen as the Christ Within functioning through the form nature and the personality; this is the reality of Soul infusion and this is the realization of KNOWING one’s True nature and living as the Soul in form. In the next verse Paul emphasizes that no matter who or what we were, we are now, through this realization, ONE in Christ.
These same ideas are presented for us in the Affirmation. Standing thus in the realization of the Christ within and living this realization through form is the same in essence as treading the ways of man as the Christ Within working through form. And, KNOWING the ways of God is the same in essence as KNOWING the reality of ONE’S True nature as the Soul, the Christ Within and the God Within who is ever ONE with the Father.
The universality of ALL should be seen in the words of both of these sayings, the Affirmation and Paul’s word s to the Galatians. Putting on Christ as the Christ Within alive in form is the goal and the objective of ALL men and this is both a step toward discipleship and it IS discipleship. The Affirmation is then just that as we affirm that we are men in form, walking in the world as the Christ Within working through form.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post and complete our look at both the Affirmation of the Disciple and Paul’s words to the Galatians.
We leave again our sayings on faith and believing which we hope to get back to in the next post.
- “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6).
- “The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?…..For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him” (Matthew 21:25, 32).
- “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not…….” (Matthew 24:23-26).
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.We leave our Quote of the Day again for today. In this is the reality of discipleship and the selflessness, the willing selflessness that is its hallmark.
“He who faces the light of His Soul and stands within its radiance is blinded to the issues of the world of men; he passes on the lighted way to the Kingdom of God. But he who feels the urge to pass that way, yet loves his brother on the darkened path, revolves upon the pedestal of light and turns the other way.”
“He faces towards the dark and then the seven points of light within himself transmit the outward streaming light, and lo! the face of those upon the darkened way receives that light. For them, the way is not so dark. Behind the warriors—twixt the light and dark—blazes the light of the Kingdom itself.“**
We previously posted this saying in In the Words of Jesus part 367 and did so in conjunction with the Master’s teaching on the idea that “But many that are first shall be last; and the last first” (Mark 10:31) and His teaching about the mustard seed where, in Luke’s Gospel, he says: “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luke 17:5-10)”. In this context we say about the words above: Remembering that the Master is speaking to His disciples in both instances above and both are, in our view, explanatory of the nature of the disciple; that he will accomplish what he has to do, his duty if you will, but will continue on in the service of the Lord and give his ALL in service to his fellowmen. There an ancient aphorism which states this truth in a different way and on which we have taken the liberty of rendering in a more understandable language;
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- ** Discipleship in the New Age – Volume II by Alice A Bailey; © 1955 by Lucis Trust
